Every Darkest Night, Has A Dawning Day
by H.R.Wolf
Summary: [AU] Tohru runs a daycare center while living with her abusive boyfriend. When one of the parents comes to pick up his daughter, Tohru and him strike up a friendship...but will he be her rescuer or the final nail in her coffin? Rated for languageviolance
1. dawning day

"The flower that blooms in the face of adversity is the most beautiful." Her mother had told her that once. "So just be yourself and you'll be fine."

The lone figure huddled closer to itself. "I don't know what to do, mom!" Tohru held the picture of her mother close to her heart, disregarding the twinges of pain strumming through her body. "He's….he changed." She closed her eyes tightly, lowering her head from her sitting position under their bedroom window, where he left her. The stark white moonlight that gleamed through the glass was cruel enough to shine on her slender body. The truth of how Kyo had changed was exposed; all her wounds were uncovered, every one of her cuts were out in the open, and multiple bruises were emphasized, as well as the crowning glory he had saw fit to bestow on her; a throbbing black eye. Tohru shifted slightly, and whimpered with pain at the remembered injuries. She started to whisper to herself.

"I'm ugly, mom. I faced adversity without screaming and…" The tears started to flow. "And I'm ugly." She crawled slowly away from the window, gasping as she felt more of her gashes chafe each other with every inch she moved. Searching the room with wary eyes, Tohru cringed. Such a mess! The pale blue lamp was knocked over and had shattered. The contents from the chest of drawers lay strewn throughout the room, the drawers broken off and thrown about as well. The double bed was moved far off to where it had been and the once-clean blankets were scattered everywhere. She placed her shaking hands on the lopsided mattress, and rose to a standing position. Tohru brushed her long, brown hair behind her ears, ignoring the spasms of pain the movement caused. She moved her mothers' picture on to the nightstand and set to work on cleaning up the room, wiping her tears away with bloody fingers and being careful not to irritate her wounds too much.

Tohru groaned and shifted her head. She had been so comfortable, so content in her safe dreamworld. Or at least, she had been, until _that _dream came back. It was more of a nightmare, actually. Tohru sighed, and snuggled into her arms, trying to escape again. A voice broke through the fragile barriers she had tried to weave.

"Ms. Honda!"

It was a soft voice. Soft, and persistent.

"Ms. Honda! Hiro took my teddy bear, and he won't give it back! Ms. Honda!" A slight tug on her shirt woke her abruptly. Tohru woke with a start, nearly falling out of her chair at the back of the room. She tried to recover hastily, blinking her blue-green eyes, and caught sight of little Kisa Sohma standing in front of her with a distraught look on her face. The shame at being caught sleeping while at work left immediately, and Tohru felt concern flood her body within seconds. She slid out of her chair and dropped to her knees in front of the orange-haired girl.

"What's wrong, Kisa?" she asked softly, brushing back soft ginger strands from Kisa's youthful face. The young girl blinked, a few tears sliding out from her tangerine eyes.

"Hiro took my bear and won't give it back." Kisa sniffed, folding her arms. She scrunched up her face, clearly upset. Tohru gave a knowing smile, and placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. Kisa looked up at her hopefully.

"Don't worry Kisa, I don't think he meant to upset you. Maybe he likes your bear so much he wanted to play with it a while longer?" She suggested, trying not to upset the child. Kisa's lower lip wobbled ever so slightly. Tohru hurried on. "But, you know, I think we might be able to work something out." The young woman quickly led Kisa to the opposite side of the room, where a young, brown-haired boy with unsympathetic eyes clutched to a white teddy bear in his hand.

"I'm not giving it back." he said scornfully, trying to avoid looking at Kisa. He stared at the floor resentfully, the bear hanging from a few closed fingers. Kisa blinked, and started to sniff.

"Y-you have to, Hiro! My papa gave it to me to hold when I missed him. " The last part was muffled by Kisa's hands covering her face to cry into. "A-and I miss him a lot!" She began to sob quietly. Tohru's mouth turned down at the corners, and she started comfort the girl, turning to Hiro while she did so.

"Hiro, see what you've done? You made Kisa cry, did you want to do that?" Tohru spoke quietly, wrapping her arms around the crying girl, and looked straight at Hiro. She usually wasn't one to guilt-trip, but she cared about the little girl, and sometimes the way Hiro treated others irritated her slightly.

"No!" Hiro looked at the girl he loved, in the arms of another woman. His eyes hardened, and he spat out venomously, "Don't be so presumptuous! What do you know, anyway, you stupid woman? I didn't want to make her cry…I just wanted her to come to _me_ when she's upset, not this thing." Hiro dropped the bear, all malice gone. He felt tired, and folded his arms feeling like a defeated sheep. A single tear escaped his closely guarded eyes. Kisa had stopped crying and was now looking at her childhood friend with something akin to wonder in her eyes.

"Really?" she breathed, "You just wanted me to talk to you? That's all you wanted?" Hiro nodded, clenching his jaw. Tohru disengaged the girl in her arms, and pushed her towards her him. Kisa stepped forward hesitantly, and turned to look at Tohru, before wiping the last of her tears away. She smiled. "If you want me to talk to you, Hiro, then I will!" She picked up her bear, and ran to hug the boy. He just stood there, shocked, his face red as a cherry. Tohru just smiled, suppressing a giggle. She glanced at the clock above the window, and straightened up.

"Okay, how about you two go play?" she suggested cheerfully, "Kisa's father will be here soon to pick you both up." After smiling briefly at both of them, she turned and started to clean up the classroom. It was late in the day, and Tohru had been contacted by Kisa's father earlier, before the school day, asking her if she could possibly take care of Kisa and her cousin Hiro. Being the kind soul she was, Tohru accepted gratefully. At least it would have taken her mind off of _him_.

Tohru sat herself down in the swivel chair sitting in front of her small wooden desk. The place she worked was fairly large, with quite a few rooms- the main playroom, the kitchen, the cloakroom, a small reception area, and outside, a garden for the children. The garden contained a playground, with swings, a slide and a sandpit. Tohru had been iffy about letting the children play in the sand at first, but her desk was right beside a large glass window that looked out onto the backyard, and every now and then she would glance outside to see if there was any trouble. There usually wasn't- the kids were so sweet!

Tohru picked out a few files and absentmindedly began flicking through them. She picked up the class register 'Only Kisa and Hiro left, then.' She thought, relieved. Not that she didn't enjoy her job, it was just that little kids were so nosy, and they always asked the most unfortunate questions. Such as, _Why are your arms all bruised, Ms. Honda? _It was hard work deflecting their voracious curiosity. But Tohru loved her job, and nothing would change that.

She check-marked all of her other students at the daycare as being picked up. Normally Hiro's mother would have picked him up, but this afternoon she had gone to the hospital in labor. Tohru had sent her best wishes, and Hiro's mother had promised her that she would be one of the first to see her baby, as payment for looking after her little Hiro so long. Tohru looked at Kisa and Hiro playing on the swings for a moment, to make sure they were okay, and she faintly heard Kisa shriek in laughter as Hiro suddenly assaulted her, lightly tickling her waist. Kisa accidentally overbalanced, and fell into Hiro's arms behind her. They both stood there, in shock, for quite some time before Hiro coughed embarrassedly, and picked his playmate up by the arms.

"C'mon, lets go to the slide." He said gruffly. His face softened when Kisa looked at him adoringly, and he grabbed Kisa's hand and pulled her towards one of her favorite places in the daycare center.

Tohru smiled as she watched them. She and Kyo had once been like that, she was sure. But after Kazuma's death…well, anyone would have been depressed, right? The suddenly very tired young women sat in her straight-backed chair, slowly sliding off her tinted glasses she had worn all day. She brought her hand up to touch her swollen eye, thankful that the bruise had eased. The purpley-black color had also gone. Now, it was a slightly sickening shade of pale green. Tohru closed her eyes, trying to relax. She failed as she started to remember the events of last night, and just as soon as Kyo's angry voice came thundering into her mind, she heard the bell ring from the reception. Thanking who ever put that bell there, Tohru quickly rubbed on some foundation from her handbag (just in case) and moved toward daycare center entrance. She stopped in her tracks a few paces away at the sight before her. Kisa was rising up into the air, laughing delightedly, thanks to the help of two strong arms belonging to a man in a well-tailored suit. It was all black except for a white tie, much like the man's hair. Tohru wondered if she had mistaken him, and if he was really Kisa's grandfather or something. The man brought Kisa up to his face to kiss her forehead lovingly. Tohru turned her head away, realizing she was probably staring wide-eyed at the pair. She didn't see his face, but she thought that he sounded quite young.

"Hello" he spoke calmly, only the slightest bit of happiness in his voice. He set Kisa down, and patted Hiro's head. Tohru turned back towards him, face down. She saw him walking to her through the long brown strands of her hair, shiny black shoes clacking quietly against the wooden floor. The man was looking straight at the now nervous teacher. "I'm Hatsuharu Sohma, Kisa's father."


	2. as night falls

"You must be Ms. Tohru Honda, right?"

She could only nod in response, looking up. She flushed slightly under his impassive eyes. From the stoic grey orbs that were his eyes, to his white hair, one would think he was an old man but upon further inspection his pressed shirt clung to his broad muscled chest, as that of any young man, probably around her age. He was fixing his tie by the time Tohru realized he was waiting for her response. She blushed further at her stupidity.

"Um…yes, I'm Tohru Honda." she bowed low, "It's a pleasure to meet you" she arose and smiled at him, feeling quite flustered inside. _I didn't think he would be so handsome!_ "You have a lovely daughter, Mr. Sohma" He blinked a few times before responding. Hatsuharu Sohma had imagined his Kisa's teacher would have been old and strict, but he had been hearing nothing but 'young and pretty' from his daughter. To be honest, he was quite surprised that Tohru Honda really _was_ young and pretty. She had stopped smiling at him now, and was instead looking at him inquiringly, wondering why he hadn't answered her. Haru cleared his throat, trying to stop his line of thought, before turning to his daughter and her cousin.

"Thank you, now if you will excuse us." He quickly motioned for Hiro and Kisa to follow him. They had been speaking quietly but excitedly about Hiro's new little sister, whose name was decided to be Hinata. Before following her father out the door, Kisa ran to Tohru, Hiro not too far behind.

"Thank you so much, Miss!" Kisa exclaimed, hugging the twenty four-year-old's slim waist. "For everything." The little girl smiled like a new bride. Hiro shrugged, and nodded thanks. Tohru smiled gently, and placed her hand on Kisa's back, crouching down so she was level with the little girl.

"Any time." She smiled again, wider, and Kisa began to grin. Even Hiro couldn't stop the corners of his lips from twitching. "And it's no problem at all, I enjoy taking care of both of you so much." Tohru hugged Kisa and patted Hiro's head. He muttered something about being treated like a little kid. Tohru walked the two young children to the exit. "Be safe!" She called after them. They walked to a slick black 2003 Porsche, and before getting in, Kisa turned around and started to wave to her frantically. Tohru responded likewise. 'Wow' she thought 'Mr. Sohma must have a _really_ good job to afford that!' She sighed inwardly and proceeded to close up, cleaning up all the toys, grabbing her handbag, shutting the lights off and finally locking the door behind her. Tohru pulled on her woolen coat, wrapped a scarf round her slender neck, and walked just round to the corner to catch the 5:15 bus. It was then that she realized she hadn't called her brother. Trying not to remember last night's events, which had prevented her from calling him, Tohru sat on the bench, and pulled out her cell phone. She fumbled a bit, her hands icy and numb, trying to get his number right. She had called her big brother so many times since she had moved out of their home three years before, but this time concern and worry for him clouded her mind, it was a wonder the number even came to her at all. The phone rang twice before the machine picked up.

"Hello, hello, hello!" Her brother's and his room mate's voices echoed "We are not answering the phone for some reason, but it's probably because we are f-….Hello!" He picked up the phone when he saw it was his sister on the caller ID.

"Hello there!" Tohru hid her worry well. "How are you? And why are you out of breath?"

There was a slightly nervous laugh.

"Oh, no reason in particular! I'm doing wonderful…or so I'm told." He replied in a teasing tone. Tohru heard a squeal of laughter in the background, and scowled.

'Oh alright, you're just _fine_ if you have a girl at your house." She said, growling. Much as she loved her brother, he did irritate her sometimes. Tohru took a deep breath. "You big _jerk!_ I was worried _sick_ about you when you asked for all that money! I thought you were in trouble, but nooooo, you spent it on some girl!" Tohru flared her nostrils. She had every right to be angry, since she had loaned him _half_ of her bank account! Which she had been saving since her first job back in _high school!_

"Nooo! Tohru, Tohru, Tohru, it's _okay!"_ Oho, _now_ he was paying full attention! Stupid jerk… Tohru heard him laugh again, and her eyebrows dipped down into a severe 'V' shape. "I-well…actually…yeah…heh heh, I did spend it on my girl, sorry, but I WILL pay you back! Your big brother will not fail you!" Humble determination dripped from his voice. How determination could be humble she did not know, but if anyone could do it, it was her big brother. On the other line, the tall dark-haired man frowned even as he bickered cordially with his little sister. _Like I'd tell her what I actually had to do with the money! She would be worried to death if she knew, and I couldn't add anything to that. She already has enough to fret about!_

Tohru smiled. It always made her feel better, talking to the one person who had always understood her. "Oh, alright. Well, heed my words when I say that, after you pay me back I won't lend you money ever again!"

"HUH?" This was unusually out of character for his sweet little sister!

Tohru smile turned sly, "Well, not until you tell me a logical reason first, got it?" She heard a sigh of relief and laughed. "'Kay, the bus is coming and I have to get home! Bye-bye, beloved big brother! Love you!"

"Love you too, Tohru!" he told her in his usual chipper voice, "Call me if you need me, 'kay?" There were a few more moments of mild insults passed both way, before her hung up.

"Who was that, darling?" A female voice whispered in his ear. As if by magic, a pair of female arms entwined themselves around his broad shoulders and, smirking, Shigure turned around to face a young dark-haired woman. She leaned back, arms still around him, revealing a boar tattoo imprinted on her shoulder. Kagura smiled, and pulled Shigure back into his bedroom.

Tohru flicked her phone shut, and proceeded to get on the bus. She carefully walked towards the rear of the bus, stepping over shopping bags and the like. She sat in one of the back seats, in between an old man reading the day's newspaper, and the cold window. There were many people on the bus, as it was closing time for most businesses. Tohru surveyed the myriad of people sitting in front of her- ladies with children, bags, or both, older men with newspapers or lunch boxes, all heading home to their families and homes. She closed her eyes, exhausted. Tohru had never felt as alone as she did then, leaning against the icy glass in that cramped public bus. To outsiders, she looked like a calm lake before the storm. And she was. For Tohru knew who would be home to greet her.


	3. at darkest night

(Hey! Here you go third chapter!, but I warn you extreme language in this one, but I hope you enjoy, and a review to let me know people are still reading this would be much appreciated by my beta and I, thanks .)

Ignoring the shouts and cheers rising around him, Kyo staggered from the ring and stumbled into the changing room. He hadn't even shut the door before his ripped shirt was tugged off and stuffed into a locker. Kyo winced as the movements exacerbated his wounds, but ignored them for the moment. He cleaned himself up on one of the benches beside it, and took off his bloodstained, tattered pants, as well as his socks and sneakers. Finally dressed only in boxer shorts, he jerked his head to the other door, the one that led out into the Sohma building, when he heard someone enter. He scowled darkly at the tall figure waiting at the threshold of the room.

Hatori Sohma was usually a sympathetic man, but in Kyo's case he felt that the orange-haired man deserved everything coming to him. He'd met Tohru Honda, or at least seen her picture, when Ayame had introduced him to her adopted older brother. Shigure had been distasteful to him at first, but Hatori also found out that he was a loyal friend, and had quite a few useful connections. They had finally managed to get along, and Hatori was surprised to find that Shigure was a trustworthy and steadfast companion.

"You shouldn't stay out so late." The doctor said coolly, glancing at Kyo as he took out gauze and iodine from his briefcase. The younger man spat at him to mind his own business, and he sighed. He knew what Kyo did to his girlfriend, or at least suspected. The Honda and Sohma families had been tangled up in each other's business for decades, and quite a few of the members of each family had intermarried. So it was inevitable that he would find out that Kyo was hitting Tohru.

Hatori managed to clean and bandage most of Kyo's injuries, without the other boy pulling out of his grip too many times. When he was finished, he packed up his bag and left the door curtly, his face cold and implacable. He needed to see Shigure and tell him about this.

Kyo stared after him for some time. "You know, one of these days he's going to get what's coming to him." He growled as he slumped down on a bench. "One of these days"

That man had always irritated him in much the same way Yuki had- did, rather. Both of them were cold and standoffish, and always looking down on him as if they were better than he was.

The sudden crescendo of the crowd outside the locker room distracted his attention. He whipped his head to his left, to the door where he had entered. The ring was almost directly outside- a sand-covered ring, encircled by platforms where people would sit and gamble. They bet on fighters, they bet on animals, the bloodthirsty crowd bet on any damn thing that entered the golden, sandy disc- there was dogfights, cockfights, wrestlers, boxers- hell, one of the guys had even smuggled a tiger (or had it been a lion?) and set a few of his Dobermans on it. Years ago. Needless to say, the beast had made easy meat of the untrained dogs. But that had been a long time ago, and the big cat had since been found and re-released, and the poacher thrown into jail. Kyo had liked the creature- it had listened to him when no one else had, when he'd been young and parentless. And spat upon.

Now he was the Cursed Cat of the Sohma clan, the most vicious fighter they'd known for a long time. He won every fight he'd ever taken part in, even this one, though this time his opponent had been hard to take down. He had always been good, but ever since his Shishou had been killed a few months ago, his anger had been building up, more and more, until when Tohru had asked an innocent question about what he had wanted for dinner, Kyo had just _snapped._

_What the hell do mean, what do I want? Shouldn't you know by now? How long have we been together? Years! And you don't know what I want?!_

Kyo, I didn't mean-

_Shut up! You're always interrupting me like that! Always, always, always! You're just like them! Like the others! _

_Shall I tell you what I want?!_

He sighed gustily. He hadn't meant to slap her. He had really, honestly hated himself in that moment, when Tohru had tentatively felt her cheek, the creamy skin stained red. She'd blinked and gasped then, and before he could apologize, she had babbled on about how sorry she was, then left the room at a run, slamming the door behind her.

Kyo sighed again, holding his head in his hands. He made to get up, but looked again at the arena door furiously as a familiar, obnoxious voice slid through the air.

"Are you still complaining, you stupid cat? I could have made it a lot worse, you know." Yuki, Kyo's manager glided into the locker room. He looked down coldly at Kyo with amethyst orbs, and sneered slightly, "That man was the most promising fighter the Aiwaza had had for decades. And you had the bad taste to _beat _him?"

For a minute, he was speechless. Then,

"What the hell?!" Kyo asked in disbelief, standing up furiously, "I fight a guy and win fair and square, then you yell at me for it?!"

Yuki growled slightly and slammed his fist into the locker beside Kyo's head. The orange haired man didn't flinch.

"You have no idea, do you, Cat?" Yuki snarled, "That family was about to give us permission to build on their land! For months, we've been trying to negotiate with them-and now, you've just ruined our chances of getting _anything_ for my trouble!"

"It's always you, isn't it?!" Kyo roared, losing it. He grabbed the collar of Yuki's expensive Chinese-style shirt, the delicate silk bunching up under his fingers, "Always you that's blaming me! Well, girly-boy, I'm gonna beat you fuckin bloody someday! You hear that?! I won't be looked down on any more, just because my bitch of a mother killed herself!"

"I've had enough of this." Yuki replied icily, detaching Kyo's hand from his neck. He dropped the offending body part with distaste, as if it repulsed him to even touch the other man. "You have work tomorrow as well. Don't be late." Before he could move away, Kyo shouldered his tote bag and pushed Yuki roughly out of the way.

"Whatever. I have to get home." He grunted. Normally Kyo would argue or even throw a few punches at the violet-haired man, but he had to get home to see Tohru.

He grabbed his bag and headed out into the night. It was still very warm out for fall so he threw his leather jacket over his shoulder and proceeded to walk home. After all, it was only a few blocks.

Walking through the dark streets, he started to imagine the scenario. He would go home and apologize, and Tohru would accept it like she always would, and they would smile and hug and laugh, like they used to. Like they did when they were teenagers. When they had been so in love.

Yeah.

On the way, Kyo passed a flower shop just closing. He stopped and picked up a bouquet of yellow daisies. They were her favorite, he knew. Tohru would have already gotten home and dinner started. Kyo paused, was dreaming of what his girlfriend was cooking when he heard a familiar voice coming from a dark alley next to the shop.

"Hello Kyo. Nice night, isn't it?" The young medical intern turned underground nurse stepped out into the lamp light, tossing a cigarette into the gutter. She smiled darkly, her almost-black shoulder length hair gleaming in the light. Kagura's eyes sparkled- she had finally got him on his own!

"What do you want?" Kyo asked warily. He had seen her before, assisting that doctor back at the arena.

"Oh, nothing in particular, Kyo." She circled around him. Kagura figured that he would be easy- since he was going with a 'goody goody', he must want something…bad. Kagura walked towards Kyo, getting with in a few inches of his face. "I really like you, Kyo." she said plaintively. She looked as innocent as she could and leaned in to kiss him., but he caught her face just in time and pushed her away from him.

"Don't ever touch me." Kyo said threateningly. 'No, Tohru is waiting' he thought. Without a backward glance, he resumed his pace down the street. In the dark alley, Kagura's mouth twisted into a determined smirk.

"You_ will_ be mine, Kyo Sohma."

She smoothed down her short denim skirt, and headed back to Shigure's for a little 'chat', wheels turning in her mind.


	4. Author Statement

Hello my loyal readers and guests!

I'm sorry to say this story is permanently on hiatus. I no longer have any interest in writing fanfiction. But I'll still be reading and dropping reviews so don't worry. I am also working on some original work. I hope to have it published some day.

So be on the lookout for me in the future, I'm going to use the same pen name.

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement!

Yours truly,

H.


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